Tag Archives: ZZADF: 4013

The New York Sun: Within hours of the United States Supreme Court declining on March 30 to review the Bronx Household of Faith case, a lawsuit challenging New York City’s ban on private worship services in empty school buildings, Mayor Bill de Blasio responded with what appears to be a decisive move of reconciliation.

Evangelicai.net (Translated via Google): The mayor’s decision was met with satisfaction from Alliance Defending Freedom, US organization of Christian lawyers, also in New York, who for many years he has been committed to the protection of religious freedom.

The Daily Signal: “Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose—except for religious groups meeting to worship God,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented Bronx Household of Faith for 20 years in itslegal battle against the city. “This policy is clearly nothing more than religious segregation—the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes.”

PJ Media: Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom argued that excluding worship services from “a broadly available public forum” discriminates against religion. The church, which has outgrown its own building, needs more space for special occasions and the nearby public school is the only place large enough that they can afford.

The Christian Post: The church and its legal representative, the Alliance Defending Freedom, argued that it was the right of the congregation to have access to public school space during non-school hours.

Christian News Network: “Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose— except for religious groups meeting to worship God. This policy is clearly nothing more than religious segregation–the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes,” said Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence in a statement.

One News Now: “If the city uses this occasion to evict the churches, it will be harming only itself and the people who live in the neighborhoods,” says Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Jordan Lorence. “It will be throwing out the very groups that provide enormous and very needed help to the community, and even the schools themselves, as Mayor de Blasio has rightly acknowledged.”

The Washington Times (CNA): “Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose – except for religious groups meeting to worship God,” Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) stated in reaction to the decision. ADF had petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case

ADF Media: Many eyes are turning to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to leave in place an appeals court ruling that upheld a city ban on worship services in public school buildings during non-school hours.

Alliance Defending Freedom: We are saddened that the Supreme Court has decided not to hear the Bronx Household of Faith case. The court passed by an opportunity to defend religious freedom and to give churches access to facilities that allow them to freely worship and serve their communities. Now it’s up to Mayor Bill de Blasio to decide whether these churches will be evicted from the neighborhoods they serve.

Bloomberg: Jordan Lorence, a lawyer with the Washington-based Alliance Defending Freedom who represented the church, said before the court acted that the group will consider additional litigation. One factor will be “whether Mayor de Blasio honors his repeated promises to change the policy and to allow religious groups to continue meeting in the schools for worship services.”

Religion News Service: “This policy is clearly nothing more than religious segregation — the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented Bronx Household of Faith in its legal battle against the city’s policy.

NY Daily News: “This is good news from the mayor’s office, but the policy banning worship services has to be changed,” said Jordan Lorence, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, which is handling the case for the Bronx church.

World Magazine: Ending 20 years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied the Bronx Household of Faith case about the right of churches to have after-hours access to New York public schools like every other nonprofit. The court, which needs only four justices’ votes to hear a case, issued no comment with its denial.

Christianity Today: “Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose—except for religious groups meeting to worship God. This policy is clearly nothing more than religious segregation—the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented Bronx Household for 20 years in its legal battle against the city’s policy.

Baptist News: Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom argued that excluding worship services from “a broadly available public forum” discriminates against religion. The church, which has outgrown its own building, needs more space for special occasions and the nearby public school is the only place large enough that they can afford.

Christian Daily: “Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose – except for religious groups meeting to worship God. This policy is clearly nothing more than religious segregation – the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been representing Bronx Household of Faith.

National Law Journal (Access via Google): “If the city chooses to use this occasion to evict the churches, it will be shooting itself in the foot,” Jordan Lorence of Alliance Defending Freedom said in a statement. “It will be throwing out the very groups that provide enormous and very needed help to their communities and even the schools themselves, as Mayor de Blasio rightly has acknowledged.”

The Gospel Coalition: New York City churches are awaiting word from the U.S. Supreme Court about whether they can continue meeting for worship services in the city’s public school buildings outside of class time

The Washington Post: May the government exclude “religious worship services” when opening up school space after hours to a range of private community groups?That’s the question the Court has been asked to review in Bronx Household of Faith v. Bd. of Ed. of the City of New York. The court may decide Friday whether to hear the case (though it can always put off the decision for some weeks).

National Review: The justices really ought to take this one, both to slap down an intransigent Second Circuit and to vindicate a core constitutional principle: The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment does not in any way authorize, and the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses do not permit, direct government discrimination against religion, religious persons, religious groups, or religious expression in government programs, policies, benefits, or forums. Ever.

NYC Religion: “The Department did not need to open its facilities for after-hours nongovernmental uses, but it did. Now it must abide by constitutional rules forbidding express discrimination against religious expression and practices in otherwise permissible uses,” the Alliance reply brief explains.

One News Now: Since 1995, ADF has been representing churches kicked out of public school facilities. ADF is asking the Supreme Court to review a 2-1 ruling from the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allows New York to kick churches out of schools that rent to other organizations such as the Boy Scouts. ADF attorney Jordan Lorence has taken the long-running case to the high court.

Christian News Network: Earlier this month, attorneys for the city filed a brief with the court again arguing that the policy was reasonable and non-discriminatory. “The department’s decision to make public schools available to religious organizations for a wide range of activities, but not for worship services or as a house of worship, is constitutional,” it read. “The policy does not prohibit, limit, or burden any religious practice; does not entangle the government in matters of religion; and does not impair petitioners’ ability to speak freely.”

The Blaze: A Christian church is continuing its battle for the unfettered right to rent New York City public school buildings to host worship services during non-school hours, with a conservative legal firm filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that pushes back against the local government’s ban on such rentals.

Charisma News: “In New York City, any community group can meet in vacant school buildings for any purpose except for religious groups meeting to worship God. The city’s arguments in defense of this policy cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence.

ADF Media: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Monday that answers New York City’s arguments against high court scrutiny of its 20-year-old quest to ban worship services in empty public school buildings. In September of last year, ADF asked the high court to review a 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that upheld a city policy prohibiting worship services in public school buildings during non-school hours. The panel’s ruling is on hold until the Supreme Court decides whether to take the case.

Christianity Today: “I stand by my belief that a faith organization playing by the same rules as any community non-profit deserves access,” de Blasio said in a press conference last April. But five months later, the policy was still in place, and the Bronx Household of Faith petitioned the US Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court’s ruling that the city’s ban is constitutional.

CBN News: “New York City seems to have a kind of secularist viewpoint, sort of a leftover from the 1950s and 60s,” ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence told OneNewsNow. “It has this extreme view of separation of church and state that says If we let a church meet in a public school, there goes the neighborhood.”

NYC Religions: This morning, the lawyers for the Bronx Household of Faith petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule a federal appeals court decision that the New York City public school administration could, if it wanted, to bar religious groups from renting space in the public schools for the purpose of worship services. The legal defender of the church and its allies is the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit firm that specializes in religious liberty cases.

One News Now: ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence has represented Bronx Household of Faith in the case that has been ongoing since 1995. “New York City seems to have a kind of secularist viewpoint, sort of a leftover from the 1950s and 60s,” he tells OneNewsNow. “It has this extreme view of separation of church and state that saysIf we let a church meet in a public school, there goes the neighborhood.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to uphold the freedom of churches and other congregations to meet for worship services in New York City public schools. The petition asks the high court to review a 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that upheld a city policy prohibiting worship services in public school buildings during non-school hours. The panel’s ruling is on hold until the Supreme Court decides whether to take the case.

Nathan Cherry: Did you know that churches and schools used to meet in the same buildings?
Today some will claim such use of “government property” as unconstitutional, citing the non-existent “separation of church and state” clause that does NOT appear anywhere in the Constitution or Bill of Rights.

OneNewsNow: “‘Every community group in New York City is welcome to rent empty school buildings except for one purpose: worship services,” [Jordan Lorence] explains. ‘For many religious organizations and churches, their worship services serve as the point where they can provide help and hope to the poorest communities. There is no reason why they should be targeted for exclusion.’”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a petition with the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Wednesday to overturn a 2–1 ruling by a three-judge panel that could widely affect New York City churches. On April 3, the panel upheld city’s policy of prohibiting religious groups from conducting worship services in vacant public schools during non-school hours.

The Christian Post: “This is the latest decision in an on-going battle that the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has been fighting for years. In fact, I can remember interviewing Rev. Bob Hall, the church’s founding pastor, as far back as the 1990s on this case for a religious freedom TV special, hosted by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy. Jordan Lorence, one of the ADF attorneys, fighting on behalf of the churches, said that the city officials trying to oust the churches are treating Christianity as if it were asbestos.”

Jerry Newcombe at Townhall: “Indeed, this is not new. This is the latest decision in an on-going battle that the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has been fighting for years. In fact, I can remember interviewing Rev. Bob Hall, the church’s founding pastor, as far back as the 1990s on this case for a religious freedom TV special, hosted by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy. Jordan Lorence, one of the ADF attorneys, fighting on behalf of the churches, said that the city officials trying to oust the churches are treating Christianity as if it were asbestos.”

The Jewish Voice: “Jordan Lorence, a lawyer for the Bronx Household of Faith, said he was disappointed with the ruling, according to Reuters. ‘To single out the religious users and call that a subsidy is like saying the government subsidizes a Jewish synagogue by allowing it to hook up to the water system,’ Lorence said. ‘These are common benefits available equally to everyone, and religious worship services should not be singled out.’”

Patriot Post: “Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly known as Alliance Defense Fund) is representing the church, and it’s considering an appeal to the full Second Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court. The group’s senior counsel on the case, Jordan Lorence, says, ‘The First Amendment prohibits New York City from singling out worship services and excluding them from empty school buildings.’ Why? Because these groups ‘pay the same uniform rates that everyone else does to use the schools,’ and therefore can’t be denied solely based on religion.”

Todd Starnes at Fox News: “A federal appeals panel has ruled that New York City has a right to ban churches from holding worship services in school buildings. In essence, it means Christians have officially become second-class citizens in the nation’s largest city. . . . ‘The opinion uses the establishment clause as an excuse to treat people of faith worse than everybody else,’ said the Bronx Household of Faith’s attorney, Jordan Lorence of Alliance Defending Freedom.”

Tom Strode at Baptist Press: “Jordan Lorence, lawyer for Bronx Household of Faith and senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), said in a written statement, ‘The First Amendment prohibits New York City from singling out worship services and excluding them from empty school buildings. The reason is because the buildings are generally available to all individuals and community groups for any activity “pertaining to the welfare of the community.”‘”

Heritage / The Foundry: “Furthermore, the Second Circuit seemed to characterize allowing the use of facilities as a ‘subsidy.’ Others disagree. Jordan Lorence, Senior Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing Bronx Household argues: ‘The First Amendment prohibits New York City from singling out worship services and excluding them from empty school buildings. . . . There is no subsidy of churches here. Churches and religious groups pay the same uniform rates that everyone else does to use the schools.’”

Christian News: “The Board of Education argued that allowing churches to use school facilities and to advertise their services amounted to a violation of the Establishment Clause in the United States Constitution. The Bronx Household of Faith, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), pointed to the fact that religious student groups already use school rooms after hours for Bible reading and prayer.”

OneNewsNow: “Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), explains that churches filed suit, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the city. ‘These are buildings that are available to everybody on the same terms and conditions,’ he notes. ‘The churches pay the same amount of money, there’s no subsidy involved, and it’s disappointing that on this split vote that the appeals court found that the policy was unconstitutional and that churches can be excluded.’”

The Christian Post: “Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal group defending the Bronx Household of Faith in the case, suggested that the Court of Appeals’ concluding argument was faulty in its interpretation of the law. ‘The First Amendment prohibits New York City from singling out worship services and excluding them from empty school buildings,’ reads a response to the ruling by ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence.”

Charisma News: “Jordan Lorence, a lawyer for the Bronx Household of Faith, said he was disappointed with the ruling. ‘To single out the religious users and call that a subsidy is like saying the government subsidizes a Jewish synagogue by allowing it to hook up to the water system,’ Lorence said. ‘These are common benefits available equally to everyone, and religious worship services should not be singled out.’”

WORLD: “The attorneys for the Bronx church have not decided yet whether they will appeal to the full 2nd Circuit, seek U.S. Supreme Court review, or see if the city resolves the policy itself. ‘We are most likely going to press ahead,’ said Jordan Lorence, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom who is representing the church. ‘The political end—that’s something we can’t depend on.’”

Gothamist: “Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence, which was representing the Bronx Household of Faith, issued a statement, ‘The First Amendment prohibits New York City from singling out worship services and excluding them from empty school buildings. The reason is because the buildings are generally available to all individuals and community groups for any activity “pertaining to the welfare of the community.” There is no subsidy of churches here. Churches and religious groups pay the same uniform rates that everyone else does to use the schools. We are seriously considering an appeal in this case, either to all of the judges on the 2nd Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court.’”

New York Times: “A federal appeals panel ruled on Thursday that New York City can bar religious groups from holding services in schools, reversing a lower-court decision. The latest decision, coming in a tortured legal battle that has lasted almost two decades, was seen as significant because it addressed a further challenge by the religious groups, in which they claimed that the city’s policy violated their religious liberty rights.”

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence regarding a 2–1 decision Thursday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that bars weekend worship services at New York City’s public schools:

Jordan Lorence on “The World and Everything In It”: World Over and Everything In It: Today’s news and a conversation with Jordan Lorence and Fernando Cabrera on the Bronx Household of Faith religious-freedom case, plus: a profile of the husband-and-wife band Matrimony, a 37-year-old computer that sold for almost $400,000, and more (the audio runs just over 27 mins.)

Charisma News: Legislation on freedom to worship was passed widely in the New York Senate last year but held up in the New York Senate Assembly by Speaker Sheldon Silver. Litigation is also pending in the U.S. federal court for the Second Circuit, Bronx Household of Faith v. NYC Department of Education. (Alliance Defending Freedom photo credit)

Baptist Press at Townhall: “The resolution is more than symbolic,” wrote lawyer Jordan Lorence in an email. Lorence is handling the case against the city’s policy in court for Alliance Defending Freedom. “The passage of a resolution urging enactment of specific legislation is the formal way the NYC Council makes its will known to state lawmakers.”

Via Walter Russell Mead, I learn that the New York City Council passed a resolution on Marc DeGirolami at Mirror of Justice: Wednesday calling for the granting of equal access to churches and houses of worship to public school property (it calls for new legislation to amend the New York State Education Law in this respect). Over at CLR Forum, I have on variousoccasions discussed the “serpentine path” of litigation in the Bronx Household of Faith case . . .

World Magazine: “The resolution is more than symbolic,” wrote lawyer Jordan Lorence in an email. Lorence is handling the case against the city’s policy in court for Alliance Defending Freedom. “The passage of a resolution urging enactment of specific legislation is the formal way the NYC Council makes its will known to state lawmakers.”

Christian Post: Despite the current victory, cited as “symbolic” by Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jordan Lorence, there is still a federal battle waging in regard to the Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York court case. [more --- history of the litigation detailed]

We commend the New York City Council for urging the state legislature to repeal the Department of Education’s policy banning worship services from vacant school buildings. Alliance Defending Freedom will continue to defend the freedom of churches and other religious groups to meet in public schools until they are as free as other groups to serve their communities.

Jordan Lorence at the NYC info: Religious liberty will likely take a step forward May 22, when the New York City Council votes on a resolution asking the New York Legislature to overturn a state law that permits the New York City public school policy that bans private worship services in the vacant buildings when school is not in session. | originally posted at Speak Up Movement.

Jon Scruggs at Speak Up Movement: In this respect, our proposed “worship paradigm” highlights the importance of the Bronx case and reveals conceptual flaws underlying the effort to exclude New York City churches from school buildings after hours. With the Bronx decision liable to come any day now, it will be interesting to see whether the Second Circuit continues to perpetuate the worship service/discussion distinction. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear (i.e. those who adopt our proposed worship paradigm), the continued perpetuation of this false distinction strikes right at the heart of our religious freedoms.

David Hacker at the Speak Up Movement Blog: We have a lot to be thankful for this year at Alliance Defending Freedom as our clients prevailed time and again in cases across the country. Here’s a recap of the top university victories in 2012 . . .